Q: How to tell if Life Insurance company is being truthful when they say beneficiary was changed when I was the beneficiary
I have an insurance policy document that my mother took out in 1976 with myself listed as the beneficiary. When I inquired with the company they said that I was not listed as the beneficiary even though I have document indicating that.
Then they said that the "beneficiary might have have been changed"
Then they said that the payout was being made to the beneficiary and that they are waiting to hear from them.
They also said they sent correspondence a week ago stating this but I have not received this.
When i asked details about the change they said they could not tell me about it.
Is this customary for this type of situation?
How would I know if what they are saying is true or if they just don't want to pay out a claim from 50 years ago and are making this up?
A: An Ohio attorney could advise best, but your question remains open for a month. What the insurance carrier is telling you about the beneficiary possibly changing could be true. They don't really have an incentive to lie about who a beneficiary is - they make payment one way or the other, based on the beneficiaries designated in the policy. Yes, it is customary for them not to discuss with you if you are not named in the policy documents. This looks like it goes back a long time. Attorneys here could only guess, but as a general matter, people do sometimes change policies, change their minds about beneficiaries, etc. The least costly starting point (before looking into attorneys or investigators) might be to look up the attorneys or executors who handled the estate - it's possible (not guaranteed) that material or information involving this might be part of their file. Good luck
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